Keep Your Head Up
by Iota Xi
Summary: In which Tigress wonders how Po can be so happy-go-lucky all the time, and Po helps his best friend by sharing some of the wisdom he's acquired through his experiences. Songfic. 'Keep Your Head Up' by Andy Grammer.


**Takes place after they get back from kicking Shen's butt.**

**Oh, and if y'all would do me the pleasure of reading my other one-shots that'd be greatly appreciated. I kinda have some running themes that would be easier to pick up if you read them.**

**Thanks again!**

**I don't own KFP or 'Keep Your Head Up' by Andy Grammer **

**I got the lyrics from: .**

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>If you want the rainbow, you're gonna have to go through the rain."<strong>_

**Keep Your Head Up**

**Tigress POV**

"I still don't get it, Viper."

"Get what?"

"Po."

"What's there to get, Tigress?"

"How can he be so happy and stuff all the time?"

"Really? That's what's bothering you? You know he's been here for like more than half a year now."

"I know. I mean, I love him and all but-"

The snake wriggled her eyebrows suggestively. "You 'love' him?"

"Shut up. You know that's not what I meant."

"Surreeee."

Ugh. Why do I have a feeling that this will come back to haunt me?

Oh well.

"Whatever, Viper. I'll see you at dinner."

"Say hi to Po for me!"

"Wait, how did you- oh, never mind."

**Po POV**

_I've been waiting on the sunset__  
><em>_Bills on my mindset__  
><em>_I can get deny they're getting high__  
><em>

I'm hungry.

No! You have to focus. Master Shifu said to meditate by myself for at least an hour everyday after training.

But, the sunset looks really pretty… and I wonder what I'm gonna make for dinner tonight?

Focus!

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. This is a lot harder than I'd thought it'd be.

_Higher than my income__  
><em>_My income's breadcrumbs__  
><em>_I've been trying to survive_

I decided to give it a rest and let myself fall back into the softness provided by the grassy knoll I was sitting on. Everything had a slight red-orange hue to it as the sun started to dip below the crescent peaks that overlooked the valley.

Crossing my arms behind my head, I let myself relax.

"Man, I can't believe I'm actually alive after all that…"

_The glow that the sun gives__  
><em>_Right around sunset__  
><em>_Helps me realize_

"Is this seat taken?"

I smiled. "I was saving it for my best friend, actually."

"Oh really?"

I felt her take a place in the grass right up next to me.

"Yeah. She's an amazing fighter, and she's the smartest girl I know…

most beautiful too."

I didn't mean for her to hear that last part, but I guess it just slipped out.

She chuckled, "Well then, you'll have to introduce me to her sometime."

I laughed and propped myself up on my elbow to get a better look at her.

_This is just a journey__  
><em>_Drop your worries_

She smiled at me, but looked away with a frown, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Something bothering you, Tigress?"

"Po, can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

_You are gonna turn out fine__  
><em>_Oh, you'll turn out fine__  
><em>_Fine, oh, you'll turn out fine_

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Ever since I've known you, you've seemed to handle everything life's thrown at you. And not just that, you seem to take it in stride, all the while laughing and smiling."

"Ha, now I wouldn't say-"

"I'm serious, Po. All my life, I've closed myself off from the world. I always believed that emotions would get in the way of my training. I always believed that they would hurt me in battle… and in life."

_But you gotta keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down, eh eh__  
><em>_You gotta keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down, eh eh_

"Tigress-"

"And here you are, proving me wrong. You proved all of us wrong. You've been a friend to everyone, and all of us are better because of it- because of you… especially me."

I was about to speak up, but she beat me to the punch (again).

"Po, I-I wanted to say thank you. And- and I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Whatever for?"

"When you first got here I treated you terribly! You didn't deserve that, and I-I should've been a better friend and-"

I put my paw on her hand. Her eyes widened, but she didn't say anything.

_I know it's hard, know it's hard,__  
><em>_To remember sometimes,__  
><em>_But you gotta keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down, eh eh eh eh eh_

"Tigress, we already had a conversation about this already, did we not?"

She nodded.

I sighed, remembering what an old friend once told me. "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today's a gift, that's why they call it the present."

"What?"

_I've got my hands in my pockets,__  
><em>_Kickin these rocks__  
><em>_Its kinda hard to watch this life go by.__  
><em>_I'm buyin in the skeptics,__  
><em>_Skeptics mess with, the confidence in my eyes_

"Something Master Oogway once told me."

"Oh, I see… and how does-"

"How does that relate to what we're talking about now?"

She glared at me, before her features softened. She nodded.

"Well you were right when you said that no one believed in me when I became the Dragon Warrior. Heck, I didn't even believe in myself, but after Master Oogway talked to me, I realized something.

_I'm seeing all the angles, starts to get tangled__  
><em>_I start to compromise__  
><em>_My life and the purpose__  
><em>_Is it all worth it,__  
><em>_Am I gonna turn out fine?__  
><em>_Oh, you'll turn out fine__  
><em>_Fine, oh, you'll turn out fine_

I needed to stop caring so much about what other people thought of me. The only person's approval I needed was my own, because guess what. No one was gonna do this for me. This was my destiny, and the only person who can change that was me."

_But you gotta keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down, eh eh__  
><em>_You gotta keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down, eh eh_

"But Po that still doesn't excuse the way I treated you."

"Tigress, 'yesterday is history' remember? That stuff is in the past, and besides, I forgave you a long time ago."

She nodded wordlessly.

_I know it's hard, know it's hard,__  
><em>_To remember sometimes,__  
><em>_But you gotta keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down, eh eh eh eh eh_

I sighed once more.

"Tigress, what comes after rain?"

"A rainbow, but I don't get... oh, ohhh."

_Only rainbows after rain__  
><em>_The sun will always come again.__  
><em>_Its a circle, circling,__  
><em>_Around again, it comes around again__  
><em>_I said_

_Only rainbows after rain__  
><em>_The sun will always come again__  
><em>_Its a circle, circling,__  
><em>_Around again, it comes around,_

I sat there staring at her.

"Hey, Tigress."

"Yeah?"

"You know what else I learned?"

"And what's that, Po?"

_But you gotta keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down, eh eh__  
><em>_You gotta keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down, eh eh_

"That I was wrong. It was me and me only who could shape my destiny, but like everything else, it's a journey. And on that journey, I needed and still do need help.

You might not have had the best past, but your past doesn't have to make you who you are now.

Listen, you don't have to be alone anymore. You have your father, our friends…

And you have me."

_I know it's hard, know it's hard__  
><em>_To remember sometimes,__  
><em>_But you gotta keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down, eh eh_

_Keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down, eh eh_

_Keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down, eh eh_

_Keep your head up, oh oh__  
><em>_And you can let your hair down_


End file.
